Like the Rain, Part 2
by Frostblade83
Summary: The rainy day comes to an end, but with the promise of new beginnings.  SasuSaku and NaruHina. Inspired by Clint Black's song by the same name. Reviews are appreciated


**Ok, forgot to preview the last part of this fic, so there are no spaces or partitions between different section. Hopefully, this section will appear and flow better than the first part. I'm posting this separate from the first part since this is both a NaruHina AND SasuSaku fic, but I can only specify two characters in the search criteria. So, on with the story**

Like the Rain, Part 2

Naruto and Hinata continued their walk down the streets of Konoha towards the Ichiruka Ramen Stand. After Hinata had offered her umbrella and handkerchief to him when she saw that he had been caught out in the rain, Naruto insisted on walking her as far as Ichiruka's. It was on the way to her house and he needed to be there anyway, since he was meeting Iruka for dinner. He wouldn't have needed to do much insisting, though. Hinata was happy to have her time alone with Naruto.

Right now, he was going on about his training to create more clones using the Shadow Clone Jutsu. He was so wrapped up in talking that he failed to notice a large puddle of water ahead of him on the street. Naruto stepped straight into it, soaking his foot all the way passed the ankle.

"Uhmmm…" he grumbled in aggravation.

"Oh dear," Hinata piped up

Naruto moved back out of the puddle and both of them continued around it, Naruto shaking the water off his soaked foot.

"I really hate the rain at times like this," he said. "Hey, why did you go out walking if it was raining, Hinata?" he asked, curious as to why she had been out when there had been a promise of bad weather.

"Uh…well…I finished training with Kiba and Shino earlier today, and I w-wanted to have some time to myself."

"So you went walking in the rain?"

"Yes. Well, it…it wasn't raining when I f-first went out. And to t-tell you the truth, Naruto, I…I really like the rain."

Naruto looked surprised.

"Really? Why?"

"Well...uh...I don't know why, but rain always…always helps me relax. Also, when…whenever it stops raining, the air smells kind of 'fresh.' I..I really like the smell."

She blushed, smiling softly as she looked down

"Hmm." Naruto seemed intrigued.

"There's another reason I like the rain."

"What is it?"

"One night, when…when I was little, I woke up to the sound of a thunderstorm. I w- was scared and huddled under the blanket. When I couldn't hear anymore thunder, I got up to…to look out the window. When I did, the clouds had parted, and…and the moon was shining. I looked down in-into the family garden and everything was shimmering with raindrops. I…I know it may sound silly, but to me, it l-looked like all the stars had come to Earth and landed in the garden."

Naruto turn his head to look up at the sky.

"You know, I never thought about all that. That's pretty cool, Hinata."

Hinata turned to look at him, blushing a bit to herself.

"You…you thinks it cool?" she said happily

Naruto offered her a beaming smile.

"Believe it."

"It stopped."

"Hmm?" Naruto uttered as he turned to look around. The rain had indeed stopped. He sniffed at the air and smiled.

"You're right. The air does smell fresh."

From down the road, a bicycler was coming fast, shouting at them.

"Hey you two, get outta the way!!"

The cyclist was almost on top of them as Naruto moved out of his path

"Hey! You watch whe…"

As Naruto moved, he stepped into another puddle. Unfortunately, this puddle was shallower than the last one he had stepped in. It caused him to slip and fall towards Hinata and the wall of a nearby building

"Naruto?!" Hinata cried out.

Naruto threw out his hands and shut his eyes, hoping to catch himself before slammed into Hinata. His hands hit the building with a loud slap. He was relieved that he had not crashed into the building. But he also felt his lip make contact…with something soft. Naruto opened his eyes. Hinata was staring back at him, her eyes wide and her face a very deep shade of red. Looking down from the bottom of his eyes, Naruto quickly understood why. They were kissing!

He could feel heat radiating from Hinata's face, and soon he too began to note the warmth coming up from the collar of his jumpsuit. He quickly pushed himself off the wall and away from Hinata. She stood up, fidgeting and looking down at her feet. Naruto noted that she was still flushed. He wasn't sure if she was mad or just embarrassed. He sheepishly scratched the back of his head.

"Uh…uh…heh heh."

"Naruto….my first kiss," Hinata thought to herself, embarrassed and elated at the same time.

Hinata continued to fidget. This time, Naruto stared down at his feet.

"S-sorry about that, Hinata."

She quickly looked up at him, her face still glowing cherry red.

"N-no. It's ok. I'm…I'm fine."

"Oh…good to hear. You're…not mad at me,….are you?" Naruto asked hesitantly

"Not at all, Naruto. In fact, i-it was kind of…"

She was cut off by someone calling out.

"Naruto. Hey, Naruto."

They both looked up to see their old sensei Iruka.

"Iruka-sensei."

Iruka walked over to the two young ninja.

"Hello Naruto, Hinata."

"Good evening, Iruka-sensei," Hinata peeped.

"So, Naruto, ready to go grab some dinner?"

"Of course, Iruka-sensei. Believe it."

"You're welcome to join us, Hinata," The older man offered politely.

"Um…thank you sensei, but I'm supposed to have dinner w-with the family tonight."

"Oh. Well, maybe next time."

Naruto turned back to Hinata

"Do you want me to walk you home first, Hinata?"

"N-no. Go ahead with Iruka-sensei. I'll…I'll be fine."

"Ok. See you later, Hinata."

"Take care, Hinata," said Iruka

Hinata watched the two of them walk off to Ichiruka's

"Bye….Naruto," she whispered.

Hinata made her way home immediately afterwards. She went to her room, changed into some fresh clothes, and went back downstairs to dinner. It was a relatively quite affair, the only conversation being her father asking her where she had gone after her training with her teammates. Hinata informed him that she had gone for a walk, but didn't mention her encounter with Naruto. Hiashi seemed satisfied. After dinner, Hinata returned to her room and, after kicking off her sandals, plopped down onto her bed. As she lay there, she reached up with her hand and touched her lips. She thought back to the kiss with Naruto. Hinata couldn't have asked for a more perfect accident. Sighing, she wrapped her arms around herself in a deep hug.

"Naruto…" she whispered as she drifted off to sleep.

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A familiar sterile scent wafted into Sasuke's nose. He opened his eyes to take a look around. He remembered dozing off not long after Sakura had fallen asleep on his shoulder, but he had no real idea how long they had been out under the awning. In any case, it was dark and the rain had stopped. He could still see water, illuminated by a nearby street light, dripping from the awning. With the rain gone, there was no reason to sit around here.

"Sakura. Sakura."

"Hmm?"

Sakura was still groggy.

"Did I fall asleep?"

"We both did."

Sakura was starting to come around. She immediately sat upright, looking all around.

"It's already dark?! How long were we asleep?"

Sasuke stood up and walked out from under the awning to get a better look at the sky.

"At least three hours." he guessed, judging by how dark it had become since they first sat down.

Sakura frowned.

"Mom's not going to be happy about this."

She turned to grab her groceries.

"Sasuke, I don't mean to impose, but cou…"

Sakura stopped mid-sentence as Sasuke moved past her and grabbed one of the grocery bags.

"I'll walk you home," he said nonchalantly. Sakura's face brightened instantly.

"T-thank you, Sasuke."

The two young ninja walked side by side as they made their way to Sakura's home. Sakura was happy that Sasuke had offered to take her home, but once again, she found that she could not manage to say a single word. She just stared at the ground in front of her, occasionally glancing to the side at her teammate. Sasuke continued to look straight ahead, changing his direction as he saw Sakura move in and out of his vision.

"Are you mute? Say something to him," Sakura thought to herself.

"Uhm, so, Sasuke?"

"What?"

"Are you busy tomorrow?"

"I'm going to practice my fireball jutsu."

"Do you want to meet for lunch tomorrow?"

"I'll be taking my lunch with me to the training field."

"Could I come join you?"

"I would prefer to be left alone for my jutsu practice."

"Oh. Ok," replied Sakura, clearly crestfallen.

"If there's time before our next mission, I'm going to need a partner to for some extra combat training."

Sakura perked up.

"If you're serious about it, I would appreciate the help."

"Sure, Sasuke. I'd be glad to help."

"Cha! I've hit the jackpot," Sakura thought.

It wasn't long afterwards that they finally reach the Haruno residence. Sakura took out her key and opened the door. She turned back to Sasuke, who handed her the rest of the groceries.

"Thanks for walking me home and helping me with my groceries, Sasuke."

"You're welcome."

Sasuke turned to leave.

"Sasuke?"

"What?" he asked, looking back over his shoulder.

"Uh…umm…"

Sasuke was getting irritated. He turned to face his teammate

"What is it, Sakura?"

Even as he spoke, Sakura leaned forward and kissed him on the cheek. Sasuke blinked in surprise. Sakura quickly stepped back.

"Umm…Good night."

And with that, Sakura quickly darted into her house and closed the door. Sasuke gave a dismissive snort.

"Hmm."

Turning around, he started to make his way home.

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Sakura quickly ran to the kitchen to drop off the groceries, where her mother was waiting.

"Sakura, where have you been? Do you know what time it is?" she questioned, clearly a bit irritated that her daughter was so late.

"Sorry, Mom. I got could in the rain and dozed off while waiting on a bench."

She placed the groceries on the kitchen counter and headed towards the stairs.

"Wait a minute, Sakura. Help me put away the groceries."

"I will, Mom. Just give me a minute."

"Sakura?!" her mother called out, but Sakura was already halfway up the stairs.

"Pleasedon'tlethimbegone. Pleasedon'tlethimbegone. Pleasedon'tlethimbegone."

Sakura ran to her room and opened the window. Sure enough, there was Sasuke halfway down the street.

"Sasuke!"

Sasuke turned to look back at her.

"See you later," she shouted.

Sasuke nodded to her, turned, and continued walking. Sakura watched him dreamily, thinking of her kiss.

"Sakuraaaaa!" her mother yelled.

Sakura quickly snapped out of here reverie.

"Coming, Mom."

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Naruto slurped down the last noodles of his third bowl of ramen.

"That's was great. Mind if I have another bowl, Iruka-sensei?"

"Sure, Naruto. Have as much as you like."

Naruto lifted both his fists.

"All right!"

Ayame smile passed another bowl his way

"Enjoy."

Naruto immediately dug in.

"So, Naruto, what were and Hinata doing together?"

"I got caught out in the rain while training and ran into on the way back to the village. She offered to share her umbrella, so I thought I would walk her home on my way here."

"That was real nice of you," Iruka replied. "And, was that kiss part of the deal too?"

Naruto stopped slurping, noodles still hanging out of his mouth. A light blush spread across his cheeks. He quickly finished them before he spoke.

"Uh…well, that was an accident."

Naruto tilted his head and stared down into his bowl.

"That was my first kiss. Even if it was an accident…"

Iruka smiled thoughtfully at his favorite student.

"But I heard that Sasuke was your first kiss."

Naruto's eyes widened in horror and his face turned an even deeper shade of red as he glared at Iruka

"Ah, c'mon, Iruka-sensei! The guy in the front row bumped into me! It doesn't count!"

Iruka threw up both his hands.

"Ok, ok, Naruto. I'm just teasing you."

Both of them quickly resumed eating. Iruka glanced sideways to see if Naruto was still mad, but Naruto was happily eating his ramen, a huge grin on his face.

"Man, that must be a really good bowl," Iruka thought.

But in truth, Naruto was thinking back to his kiss with Hinata.

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Sasuke stepped into the shower. He sighed. It had been a good day and a hot shower was just thing he needed to help him relax. So, he was satisfied with this weapons training. Starting tomorrow, he would work on refining his fireball jutsu. He would have liked to work on improving his Chidori as well, but he needed Kakashi's help for that. Once he was satisfied with his fireball jutsu, he would move on to his taijutsu. Thinking about it reminded him of his encounter with Sakura. For a moment, Sasuke wondered if it was a good idea requesting her help. Would she train seriously, or be distracted by him the entire time? He hoped she hadn't taken their meeting in the wrong way. He was simply helping out a friend since he had no pressing business; and yet, there was the matter of that kiss. Sasuke closed his eyes. He remembered turning around to look at her before he left her house. Her head had been tilted down, though she was looking up at him.

"What?" he had asked coldly as he turned to face her.

She didn't respond. She just stuttered and fidgeted. He remembered being aggravated at the fact that she couldn't just get out what she was going to say.

"What is it, Sakura?" he asked, trying to hide the irritation in his voice.

Then it had happened. He was so surprised that all he could do was just look back at her without a word.

"Umm…good night," she had said.

The memory of it all brought a warm feeling inside of him. Sasuke couldn't help the smile curling into his lips.

Yes, it had been a good day.

**So ends _Like the Rain_. Thanks for reading. And, as always, reviews would be appreciated.**


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